Redding group has panhandling in its crosshairs

Billy Delcoure panhandles Friday in front of Wal-Mart along Dana Drive. Delcoure said he and his girlfriend and dog currently live in their car but are moving into an apartment Tuesday. "Why do I do it?" Delcoure asked. "To feed us. If I get a couple of extra bucks I may get a bottle, but mainly to feed us. I ain't being bad, just flying a sign saying that I'm hungry."

A group of community and business leaders wants to build interest in a campaign that urges drivers and passers-by not to give money to panhandlers.

The anti-panhandling proposal emerged Friday during a meeting led by Jessica Delaney of the Redding and Shasta County Homeless Continuum of Care Council.

That meeting drew interest from business owners, some whom belong to the Redding Merchants Crime Watch and are grappling with disruptions by panhandlers and break-ins.

Meanwhile, Redding Police Chief Robert Paoletti has announced he will hold his first quarterly town hall meeting Jan. 30. Paoletti is expected to address last year's rise in crime rates, which have been driven by car thefts and burglaries.

Redding councilors Rick Bosetti, Missy McArthur and Francie Sullivan, who attended Friday's meeting, endorsed the anti-panhandling campaign. Delaney plans to present it to the crime watch group Wednesday. City Manager Kurt Starman and Paoletti will be among the guests.

The idea is to get Redding businesses to buy into the campaign to present a unified front and change the culture, supporters said. As a first step, copies of posters would be placed at businesses discouraging people from giving money to the panhandlers.

As the sun went down Friday, Billy Delcoure called out to his girlfriend, Anna Hemple, to get him a sweater from their car, which they had parked at the Wal-Mart parking lot.

Sacramento transplants, they planned to stay late into the night to ask drivers entering and leaving the big box on Dana Drive for change. Delcoure held a sign that read: "Hungry God Bless."

"I did everything I was supposed to do, and here I am. Destitute," said Hemple, describing how she and Delcoure have been on Redding streets for 18 months. What they collect, about $20 to $25 daily, will cover meals and food for their dog, they said. If there is any money left, he might buy himself a drink, Delcoure said.

Jobs are difficult to come by for

the pair. He was in prison, and she lost her job two years ago, she said.

"I know there are people who abuse it, but I do this because I need to eat," Hemple said.

Homeless advocates, including the Rev. Dave Honey of the Good News Rescue Mission, said in the past five years they have seen more aggressive panhandling in the area.

They said it is important to make the distinction that homelessness and panhandling are different, and panhandlers often are not homeless.

For Hemple, who this week began to receive disability benefits and will be moving into an apartment, staying at a homeless shelter was not an option.

It meant spending the evening separated from Delcoure, and she would feel unsafe without him, she said.

A survey released by People of Progress, a nonprofit providing emergency assistance to the needy, shows the homeless population had no major increase in 2012. Although the number of families with children who reported being homeless grew nationally, in Redding they decreased.

The group also is considering putting together a public service announcement and contact information of community resources on business cards that businesses would make available to its customers, who then would give them to panhandlers.

Shelley Levy of Tobacco 'N Brew, 2143 Hilltop Drive embraced the poster campaign as soon as she heard about it, even offering to financially support it.

She has safety concerns, and the panhandling problems create a threatening environment, she said. Last year, her business was the target of four break-ins. The first two were alcohol- and drug-related.

The fourth incident, in September, was the worst. A car was driven through the back doors, and in a matter of four minutes, she said she lost $20,000 of merchandise. The damage cost her $6,000.

She said some of her customers have offered to stand outside her business with guns.

"I just don't think that's the solution," she said.

Delaney said education will be key in turning around public perceptions.

People think they want to help when they give change to a panhandler, but that is money that could go toward community resources designed to serve those in need, she said.

She pointed to a survey done by a Shasta College student who interviewed panhandlers.

The report indicated panhandlers make an average $100 daily.

She also noted other studies, which have estimated five panhandlers collecting $300 daily in a year would have a combined $547,500.